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Boulder County Jail inmates work behind the scenes to keep fair moving

Last year, 1,539 labor hours provided

By Pierrette J. ShieldsLongmont Times-Call

Posted:
07/27/2013 07:47:23 PM MDT

Updated:
08/05/2013 06:19:15 PM MDT

Boulder County Jail Inmate Tia Stoner of Longmont from the community workers program, paints trim on a shed in June at the Boulder County Fairgrounds. Last year, inmates from the Boulder County Jail put in more than 1,500 hours of work at the fairgrounds.
(Matthew Jonas/Times-Call)

LONGMONT -- Melissa Sena's wild enthusiasm for the Boulder County Fair drew a few giggles from the women working alongside her.

Flecked with paint and wearing a broad grin, she paused between brushstrokes while painting a shed at the fairgrounds in Longmont on a recent afternoon.

"I am hoping to be part of it so I can give back to my community," she beamed. "It is nice to know we can do something, give back."

Sena is a Boulder County Jail inmate who earned her way into the community worker program. That means she can leave the jail with other inmates under a civilian crew boss' supervision to help with projects in the community. The program is used liberally to help set up the annual Boulder County Fair and keep it running smoothly.

Sgt. Dave Peeples runs the jail's program.

"Last year I gave them 1,539 hours of inmate labor," he said of the fair. "We got up there seven days a week and the crew bosses take them for eight hours."

Men and women who are low-risk offenders help with all sorts of tasks to make the fair run -- picking up trash, cleaning stalls, configuring metal fences, baling hay, setting up stages for performances, raking, mowing, weed eating and any other task fair organizes may need help to complete.

The inmates also assist with groundskeeping when the fair isn't on.

Crew boss Dee Lover supervised a group of inmate workers at the fairgrounds recently, including Sena, as they painted a shed near the community garden. She said in her off time she rides horses and has been to many facilities.

"This is probably one of the best maintained fairgrounds I have been to," she said, as she watched over the women she brought to the fairground in a marked Boulder County Sheriff's Office van.

The inmates wear work boots, tan work coveralls and brown T-shirts with "BCSO" on the back.

"They used to wear normal inmate clothing, which was just normal red or blue pants," Peeples said. The clothes they wear now are more practical for the labor involved and help set some nerves at ease.

From left: Boulder County Jail Inmates Melissa Sena, of Longmont, and Tia Stoner, of Longmont, (on ladder) touches up the paint on a shed while supervised by Boulder County Sheriff's Work Crew Boss Dee Lover in June at the Boulder County Fairgrounds.
(Matthew Jonas/Times-Call)

"There were always complaints on and off," Peeples said, adding that most feedback about the inmates and their work has been positive.

For the inmates, it is a popular option. Working outdoors helps some sleep. The scenery is also considerably more interesting than the sterile white cinderblock of the pods at the jail. Peeples said sometimes the inmates are given pizza, sodas or other non-jail cuisine, which are rare treats. Other than that, there are no sentence benefits for work crew members, such as additional good time that can shorten sentences.

Tia Stoner of Longmont, who was on the work crew with Sena, said she will likely be out of jail by the time the fair opens and will attend with her 5-year-old son. She balanced on top of a ladder to pull trimming tape off the freshly painted shed.

"I think it is great that it gives us the opportunity to participate," she said of the worker program.

Inmate Lana Christensen, 38, of Boulder is looking forward to working during the fair.

"How can you not look forward to it?" she asked. "If we are not here doing something, we are sitting at the jail."

From left: Boulder County Jail Inmates Melissa Sena, of Longmont, and Lana Christensen, of Boulder, work to remove tape around the trim the painted on a shed in June at the Boulder County Fairgrounds.
(Matthew Jonas/Times-Call)

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